News, 12/3/2018

Helsinki invests in its people with a library that reinvents the genre

Everyone knows Finnish people love outdoor sports and hiking in the forest. They also enjoy hard-hitting games such as ice hockey. But do you know how much they like libraries?

Finland takes libraries seriously, as the magnificent new Helsinki Central Library Oodi demonstrates (the name means “ode” in Finnish). It’s a 98-million-euro investment in the people of Helsinki. Organisers strategically picked December 5, 2018 for the grand opening, tying it to December 6, Finland’s Independence Day.